Data Science and Minitab
How one can use minitab to learn data science concepts! #1
About this blog
This blog serves as both a tutorial and a synthesis of the various resources I utilized to learn data science. It provides an overview of how to use Minitab for statistical methods, supplemented by a basic introduction to statistics.
I realized this information might be beneficial to others who are new to statistics, as I initially struggled to find similar introductory materials. Sharing my knowledge of Minitab not only helps others but also enhances my own understanding of the tool and potentially connects me with experts who can expand my learning.
If you find this article useful, please consider letting me know or supporting the development of such tools by purchasing the Pro version of Minitab on their official website. It’s a worthwhile investment. For the purposes of this blog, I have utilized the trial period offered by Minitab.
In this blog, let’s try to get familiar towards the elements in minitab.
This is the first screen that you will see when you open the Minitab tool (I’m using version — Minitab 18). We can see three tabs on our screen — Session, Worksheet, and Project Manager.
The session screen would display all the activities/commands and the results that you have done in the tool.
The worksheet screen is the main area where we perform actions on data. The sequence of C denotes the column numbers. This is similar to the interface of an excel sheet or a spreadsheet.
The project manager screen displays the folder structure and consolidated version of the data we are working on.
Minitab’s toolbar (ribbon) helps us find the graphical control element on which on-screen buttons, icons, menus, or other input or output elements are placed. These quick-access items help us find a different sheet, last command, saving or opening other worksheets, data handling tools, and others.
Now, let’s look at the tabs. Minitab contains eleven tabs: File (A), Edit (B), Data (C ), Calc (D) [calculations], Stat (E) [statistics], Graph (F), Editor (G), Tools (H), Windows (I), Help (J) and Assistant (K). Each tab has its own specific groups of related commands. These groups have several additional commands that can be viewed by clicking the arrow at the right bottom corner of any group. Just to give a brief introduction on all the tabs:
File: has list of options on how to import/export data and file I/O.
Edit: has the list of commands that we can use on cells/data in rows and columns of a worksheet.
Data: has commands on the action that can be performed on sheets and also, to manipulate the data in a sheet (Transpose, Sort, Formatting, and others).
Calc: has calculations that can be performed on the data. Most used commands are row statistics (Will calculate all descriptive statistics of the data present in the row format), column statistics (Descriptive statistics on data present in column format), Random Data (To generate sample data from various distributions available), Probability Distributions (List of distributions and its properties to understand them)
Stat: This tab consists of all the statistical theories or methods that we perform on the data. Hypothesis testing, regression analysis, ANOVA, and others can opt from this tab.
Graph: It contains a list of all graphs that we can plot from the data.
Editor: has commands that are relevant to edit the worksheet or manipulate the cell properties.
Tools: has other supported tools with Minitab like notepad and others.
Windows: has actions that are used on the windows (worksheet or session).
Help: this tab holds actions relevant to the tool’s version and the tool’s manual book. I recommend looking at the “help” option; the minitab team has done an excellent job in detailing every tool element.
Assistant: this tab is more relevant to people who are using the tool to verify or perform a set of activities that can be performed on the data.
Though this is not an exhaustive approach towards understanding the tool, I think this understanding is enough to start using the tool without much hesitation. See you in the next blog!
Disclaimer
I am not affiliated with any of the services mentioned in this article. Additionally, I do not claim to be an expert. If you believe that I have overlooked important details or omitted crucial steps, please feel free to point them out in the comments section or contact me directly. I welcome constructive feedback and suggestions for improvement.
